Programs are generally held the fourth Tuesday of the month September through November and January through May, in the Community Room at the Madelyn Helling Library, Nevada City. Doors open at 6:15 PM and a brief business meeting begins at 6:45 PM. The featured program begins about 7:00 PM.
In June we have our annual picnic and “tailgate” sale, in July and August we are busy with the Nevada County Fair, and in December we hold an annual holiday pot luck gathering.
♦ UPCOMING PROGRAMS/GUILD MEETINGS
(Scroll to the bottom for recent past programs)
**No Meeting in July
** No Meeting in August
August is the Nevada County Fair!
See here for more information and how to volunteer.
~ Saturday, September 16, 2023, 9 AM – 12 PM
Woolly Painted Pumpkins – Beyond Orange! Special workshop with Heidi Leugers
Pumpkins are sage blue, rosy-salmon, dark green, pale cream, or gold
and splattered or streaked with contrast. In this class, we will recreate
the painterly expressions that blanket the surface of this classic icon of
autumn all in wool! This course offers an easy, solid start for anyone
new to the craft. Heidi shares her signature techniques to create a basic
form and sections, and blend and layer fibers with ease. Stems, leaves,
and tendrils add delightful details. All techniques shared will add to the
repertoire of the experienced needle felter, too. Each student can expect
to finish one 3 to 4 inch pumpkin in class, with plenty of fiber to spare.
Materials & Tools included: Needle felting fibers in several colors, core
material, multiple felting needles, and other supplies for creative detail.
Each participant will be offered a custom color selection opportunity
ahead of time for their kit. Kits will ship 4 weeks before the class.
Cost: $65 per person. Includes the workshop, a full kit, and shipping of the kit!
Sign up here>>
~ Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Program details coming soon!
~ Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Ann Coddington – Sculptural Basketry
Doors open at 6:15 PM, meeting starts at 6:45 PM
Hybrid meeting: In-person and via Zoom.
Ann Coddington utilizes a variety of traditional and innovative fiber techniques including twining, looping, lashing and netting in her sculptural forms. Her recent work is deeply rooted in organic vessels that reference the body, natural and found objects, that enter into a complex dialogue about our place in the world and our impact on the environment. Her work has been shown across the United States and Internationally with recent solo shows at the Contemporary Art Center in Peoria, Governors State University in Illinois, and upcoming at the Praxis Fiber Workshop in Cleveland. Coddington’s work was also selected for inclusion in the 2022 International Fiber Biennial in Pittsburgh this past summer.
Ann is a Professor of Art and Graduate Coordinator at Eastern Illinois University. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois Sculpture Department in 1993, and her BFA from the Colorado State University Fibers Department in1986. She is very active in teaching sculptural twining workshops around the world. Ann recently taught at the Penland School of Crafts, Indigo Blue Hawaii studios, the Chicago North Suburban Needle Arts Guild and upcoming for Fibre Arts Australia. Coddington serves as the co-chair of Exhibitions and as a member of the board for the National Basketry Organization.
Jane Milner – Make It and Take It
Doors open at 6:15 PM, meeting starts at 6:45 PM
Hybrid meeting: In-person and via Zoom.
Katy Atchison – Metacognitive Skills for Artists: Gain Insight & Inspiration
Doors open at 6:15 PM, meeting starts at 6:45 PM
Hybrid meeting: In-person and via Zoom.
Metacognition is simply the awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes. For artists, dancers and writers we are much more clued into our dreams, ambitions and our ability to see beyond the way things appear to be. However, we let our inner critic take over when tackling big projects and looking for inspiration in new places.
In this class we will learn methodology which explores how to use Metacognitive Skills to unlock more inspiration and gain personal insight through a simple drawing experience which can be applied towards any form of art or expression. We will also be using a process called Intentional Creativity which is a methodology that combines creative expression with mindfulness to support growth & healing.
This workshop will be led by Katy Atchison, an Oakland artist residing in the Allendale neighborhood of East Oakland.
Bio: Katy Atchison
Step into the transformative realm of creativity guided by the expertise of Katy Atchison, a certified Intentional Creativity® teacher with over 15 years of experience in facilitating empowering workshops.
With a unique teaching style that seamlessly blends step-by-step somatic instruction, mindful meditation, and a touch of humor, Katy skillfully guides her students through the labyrinth of their inner critic, ushering us into a joyous realm where their muse thrives.
With a lifelong passion for art, Katy has amassed an abundance of wisdom in various artistic mediums. While she considers herself a versatile artist, her painting and illustration style have garnered recognition in numerous galleries throughout the Bay Area and beyond. When she’s not immersed in painting or teaching, you might find her spending time with her beloved scotty dog, strumming her guitar, or contributing as one of the editors for Broke-Ass Stuart in San Francisco. While primarily based in Oakland, Katy spends summers in a charming 1920s log cabin in Montana.
~ Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Barbara Shapiro – Art in the Time of COVID
Doors open at 6:15 PM, meeting starts at 6:45 PM
Hybrid meeting: In-person and via Zoom.
Barbara Shapiro will share the productive burst of artistic output inspired by moving her studio in January 2020 and by current personal and political events. The sequestration that Covid forced upon us all brought forth lots of new work in several series. Unfinished and abandoned projects from years ago were seen with new eyes and finally finished. Newly discovered materials inspired different ways of working. And as always, Indigo colored her materials. Barbara hopes to inspire you to look at your own work in new ways as you enjoy this saga of 2020-2023 in her studio in the time of Covid.
Bio: Barbara Shapiro
Barbara Shapiro has been creating textile art for decades. She combines a rich knowledge of historical and ethnic textiles with broad technical experience in weaving, dyeing and basketry. Indigo is her specialty. After being involved in the San Francisco Art to Wear movement in the ’70s and ’80s, Barbara shifted her focus to textile art often. In woven silk with surface design. She has devoted much of her art practice to basketry for the past 19 years, working in both coiling and plaiting often with indigo dyed elements. She teaches frequent workshops and has taught at San Francisco State University and Osher Lifelong Learning through SFSU. A past Board Member of the Textile Society of America, she also serves as an Advisor on the Textile Arts Council of the Fine Arts Museums of SF. She was a docent at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art and guest curated Three Left Coast Artists at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. She is a frequent contributor to textile publications and her award-winning wall pieces and baskets have been widely published and exhibited throughout the USA and in Canada, France, England, Ireland, Japan, Korea, China, and Israel.
♦ UPCOMING EVENTS
~ Knitting Group meets in person on the 1st Thursday of the month.
3-5pm, location varies. All knitters welcome (beginners to experienced).
Members will receive further details via email.
~ Spinning Group meets in person on the 2nd Wednesday of the month.
2-4pm, Madelyn Helling Library, 980 Helling Way, Nevada City, CA 95959
Members will receive further details via email.
~ Second Saturday Social in person on 2nd Saturday of the month.
FFG is hosting Social Saturdays at the Community Room of the Madelyn Helling Library in Nevada City on the 2nd Saturday of the month from 1-3pm. Guild members will meet for knitting, spinning, and any other fiber fun you can carry with you. Interested community members are welcome to join!
~ Weaving Group meets on the 2nd Saturday of the month via Zoom. All weavers (from beginner to experienced) are welcome to join us as we share and learn from each other via Zoom (and occasionally in person). Members will receive further details via email.
♦ RECENT PROGRAMS
**Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Brooke Sinnes – Dating Profiles of Natural Dyes: Meet, greet and get to know natural dyes and the process.
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person and via Zoom.
Brooke is the owner of Sincere Sheep, a yarn brand focused on single-source, breed-specific, and custom-made yarns that are naturally dyed. She has been teaching natural dyeing, knitting, spinning, and weaving off and on for the past 18 years. Brooke finds it continually rewarding that through naturally dyed textiles we have an intrinsic link to our past and future. Like a thread throughout human history, dyes, colors and textiles have created a connection around the world to culture, geography, commerce and family.
**Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Heidi Leugers – Value Keys (Major and Minor)
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person and via Zoom.
Join Heidi Leugers, founder of Reclaimed Wool, as she shares how value keys influence the mood of a fiber project/artwork, including a garment.
Heidi’s studio, Reclaimed Wool, is a living exploration of sustainable expression; since 1998 she has ‘reclaimed’ all the waste created in her studio to make new items. Heidi’s zero waste practice is featured in the first series of academic texts to query a college art curriculum’s relationship to ecology, biology and materiality: Cycle-Logical Art – Recycling Matters for Eco-Art (Linda Weintraub, Artnow Publications, 2007).
Tens of thousands of her original designs have been sold at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the American Folk Art Museum, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Milwaukee Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, and Timberline Lodge, among hundreds of other museums, stores and galleries across the United States.
In 1996 Heidi shifted from knitting to hand spinning and embraced her true métier: wool! Her first task was to “unmask” wool yarn and reveal each sheep breed’s distinct qualities: wild, hairy, coarse, curly, soft, springy – by making miniature sheep from hand washed raw wool and recycled sweaters. Heidi has created functional and whimsical items from wool fiber, fleece, fabric, old garments, yarn and felt for 25 years. Utilizing her unique process for hand washing wool for lock integrity, Heidi once washed a black Navajo Churro lamb fleece for Deborah Robson, grown and raised by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts.
After earning a B.A. in both economics and French, Heidi trained as a stock broker in the North Twin Tower (WTC, Manhattan), then worked as an underwriter before returning to school to study printmaking, painting and art history at the Hartford Art School.
Reclaimed Wool website
**Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Elizabeth Williamson – Executive Director of the Handweaves Guild of America
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person and via Zoom.
Elizabeth Williamson earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She began her career as a Publicist for the Hara Complex and then as a Talent Representative for Kismet Productions. In 2006 Elizabeth joined Columbus Children’s Theatre as Managing Director where she oversaw a turnaround in the theatre’s finances and set new records for program participation. As a result of her work, she was a finalist for Columbus Business First’s 2010 CFO of the Year program. In 2013 the Aiken Center for the Arts in South Carolina hired Elizabeth as Executive Director. While in this position, she formed the Aiken Cultural Leadership Consortium to unite and support the arts and cultural organizations of Aiken for the purpose of collaboration, advocacy and community. Since 2015 Elizabeth has served as Executive Director of the Handweavers Guild of America in Suwanee, Georgia. As Executive Director, Elizabeth has been responsible for leading the board through the development of a strategic plan, consolidating technology platforms for a better customer experience, and nearly doubling the organization’s Convergence® conference attendance.
**Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Gretchen Hilyard Boyce – Fiber Travels to Portugal
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person (masks required) and via Zoom
Gretchen Hilyard Boyce will present photos from her travels to the Arraiolos region of Portugal this past summer with Threadwritten Textiles. Hear about the weavers, spinners, textile manufacturers, shepherds and artisans keeping Portugal’s rich fiber crafts alive. Gretchen will share about the traditional way to make Arraiolos rugs, Portugal’s palette of natural dyes, efforts to revive endangered sheep breeds, and the hidden symbols in the weaving patterns of the region. Come take an armchair trip to Portugal with Gretchen and gain some inspiration for your next fiber project!
**Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Alanna Wilcox – Color, Fiber and Dye
Doors open at 6:15pm, meeting starts at 6:45pm
Hybrid meeting: In-person (masks required) and via Zoom
Are you a fiber enthusiast that is curious about color? Maybe you’re even “dyeing” to learn more about how and when color is applied to fiber influences a project’s visual outcome. In this lecture, Alanna will explore color perception, color theory, and how that can be applied to the projects we create as fiber artists. Alanna breaks down color theory in a very easy to understand way for the novice fiber colorist and then deep dives into the nuances that can be tapped into when one is aware of how human perception of color (and how that perception) can guide our choices in creating with fiber, yarn, and handmade fabrics.
Alanna Wilcox is a fiber artist, professional educator, Master Spinner and color specialist with acid dyes. She loves empowering fellow fiber enthusiasts by helping them overcome their creative challenges, learn new skills, and achieve their fiber related goals through her expert instruction via online workshops and books. Alanna is constantly making things, especially projects that have to do with color and fiber to express her creativity. She earned the OHS Spinning Certificate with distinction in 2015 and the Master Spinner Certificate in 2017. She wrote and self-published the spinning book “A New Spin on Color” in addition to developing over 2,000 precision dye formulas to color match digital images and HEX colors. Her newest book “Color Alchemy: From Digital to Dye” will be available in a course she is developing for dyers and spinners that pairs the science of color with the art of dyeing. Working with fiber is something that she lives and breathes, sometimes literally.
♦ RECENT EVENTS
**Tuesday, June 27, 2023
Annual Guild Summer Picnic
Pioneer Park, Nevada City (location)
Starts at 5:30pm, potluck dinner at 6:30pm, ends at 7:30pm.
Activities include: fiber sale/swap, games, Guild challenge showcase and prizes, potluck dinner, and social time.
**Tuesday, December 6, 2022 – ANNUAL GUILD HOLIDAY PARTY
We had a lovely pot luck party connecting with old and new friends. We also collected many donations for local foster children and had an entertaining fiber gift exchange. Seasons Greetings to all!
**Nevada County Fair – August 10-14, 2022
**We held our Annual Summer Picnic on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. We met in person at Pioneer Park to celebrate the end of the Guild’s fiscal year and the beginning of summer. We had a potluck and shared our Guild Challenge projects during Show & Tell.
